Rateau’s Archive: Saving & Sharing Designs of Leeds Castle
In 1926, the French architect and designer, Armand-Albert Rateau (1882-1938) was entrusted by Olive, Lady Baillie, to create her vision of a luxurious country retreat.
Following the completion of the works, Rateau presented Lady Baillie with two photograph albums showing the interiors as he left them. Many years later, Rateau’s son, François, gave the Leeds Castle Foundation several portfolios of plans and annotated drawings from his father’s time at the Castle. Together, these documents are a fascinating and invaluable record of the design process.
In 2025, the Heritage team at Leeds Castle received a generous grant from the Rochester Bridge Trust to digitise the archive in its entirety, ensuring it was safeguarded for the future. Working in partnership with specialist digitisation company Genus, the project – led by Collections Documentation Officer Matthew Abel – involved auditing the archive, improving housing and commissioning an accredited paper conservator to stabilise and repair damaged items.
Later this year, Rateau’s Archive will be made publicly available via an online platform for all visitors to Leeds Castle to access. In the meantime, a selection of key images, which illustrate the design process underway at the Castle in the early 20th century, are viewable here, on our webpage.
Chief among them are plans for a ‘secret’ staircase linking the Salon with Lady Baillie’s private apartments, as well as drawings for the design of the outdoor courtyard and Tudor facade in the Gloriette. Taken as a whole, the archive not only provides a record of what the Castle’s interiors looked like during the 1920s and 30s but also informs us about the design process and decision-making underway.
Lighting was a particular focus, with Rateau completing many different designs for iron lanterns inspired by historic examples, as well as more modern fittings. Although the majority of the archive relates to the Castle itself, he also created designs for bridges in the grounds.
Rateau’s influence on the design and direction of Leeds Castle and the wider estate during the early 20th century is currently the focus of primary research for the Heritage team. The Archive Digitisation Project is informing this ongoing research.
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We would like to thank our funders
We would like to thank the Rochester Bridge Trust for their generous grant which made this project possible.
There has been a bridge over the River Medway at Rochester since the Roman times, and in 1399, the Rochester Bridge Trust was established to ensure this strategic crossing would be maintained in perpetuity. Charles Wykeham-Martin served as a Trustee of the Rochester Bridge Trust between 1845 and 1870, during his ownership of Leeds Castle. Today, the Trust provides grants for a range of projects, including heritage restoration, the advancement of engineering research and STEM learning within schools. Please visit the Trust’s website to find out more.
